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The whisper becomes a shout

Life Whisperer collecting their prize at the Australian eChallenge Awards Dinner

Our 2016 Australian eChallenge winner, Life Whisperer, just collected yet another accolade. The AIIA awards recognises progress and development in the area of ICT and rewards those at the cutting edge of innovation. Life Whisperer collected both the Start-up of the Year and the Big Data/Machine Learning Innovation of the Year and will represent SA at the national awards this August.

Life Whisperer’s method of applying non-invasive AI-driven image analysis to improve the selection of viable embryos for IVF implantation captured the attention of judges at the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) iAwards. Using proprietary algorithms based on machine learning, statistics, and physics, Life Whisperer identifies morphological features that constitute a healthy embryo which are often invisible to the human eye from a microscope image. Importantly, Life Whisperer does not require significant process change or costly hardware to be installed. The goal is to improve IVF success rates, and reduce cost and emotional burden on couples by selecting the best embryos.

Life Whisperer’s co-founder Dr Michelle Perugini said “We are delighted to have won two awards, not only to recognize the significance our innovation can have on the lives of people wanting to have children, but the potential to be a great world-leading business in the fertility sector.”

Dr Perugini only came together with her co-founders Dr Jonathan Hall and Dr Don Perugini last year when they entered the Australian eChallenge in the Research Commercialisation and Medical Innovations Categories. They took out both awards and have since gone on to secure funding from TechinSA which will assist them to develop a scalable cloud-based software product that provides image analysis for embryo selection to clinics who perform IVF globally.

The 2017 Australian eChallenge kicks off again 27 July and we’re hoping to see the same calibre of passion, commitment and dedication that Life Whisperer have shown. We wish them all the very best at the national awards and look forward to following their progress!

To register or for further information please visit the Australian eChallenge website.